Yuletide Salad with Cool Ranch Dressing

What can I say? Last Friday was AWESOME! Our OEP Yuletide Season started off right with a combination of a packed dance floor , Great Friends (New & Old) and One of the finest country bands around Radio Ranch! I can't say enough about what a great performance they gave and quite frankly I'm getting tired of trying to find new adjectives that mean Awesome. 

Take away the fact their performance was "AWESOME". Take away the fact that they're Great Musicians and Singers. Take away the fact they play a Great all around country mix and genuinely relate to the crowd. When you do you'll find that you're left with 5 of the nicest people you'll ever want to meet. Good Times, Good Friends. Great Job Guys..

We started off the lessons doing a review of the easy line dance Givin' it Up to the Song 15 Minutes by Rodney Atkins  and then taught a Beginners Partner Dance called Jazz It Up . Since we had a little extra time, we also did a quick review of the Western Barn Dance Mixer since we had so many couples in attendance. 

REMINDER! During this holiday season remember our Veterans.  There are currently 300 Veterans (approx. 275 men & 25 women) at the Soldiers Home in Holyoke. We need your help and support to make sure each and every one of them has a Merry Christmas. Bring your gifts (unwrapped) from now until December 14, 2012 and join us and the AMVETS in bringing smiles to OUR Veterans. They will know we haven't forgotten them and them and what they have done for all of us.  

THIS FRIDAY IS THE LAST FRIDAY TO DONATE!!

CLICH HERE FOR SOLDIER'S HOME WISH LIST

As you heard last Friday we got an invite to teach at the Country Dance weekend at the East Hill Farms this coming March. For years now, Alan & Marge & Bill & Linda, Bill & Doraine have been telling us what a wonderful time they always have there and we really need to our butts in gear and go. Well, we are, and really looking forward to it! Ask them or Don, Pauline or Joe about what a great time they had when they went. Terriffic response to this on Friday, all the flyers we put out went IMMEDIATELY! We'll bring more next Friday. In the meantime you can check out their website here East Hill Farm Country Dance Weekend March 15th-17th I'll fill you in on more details about how to sign up and make reservations next week. THIS IS GONNA BE A BLAST! Keep an eye out as I'll be sending a link with Pictures and a flyer on line. BTW, Really want to thank Paula Frohn & Michael Silva from Caddy for asking us and the couples that attended their December event for recommending us. You guys rock , You know that? ;-)

This coming Friday JUST-N-KASE is back at the AMVETS with a mix of country and Rock and Roll to get your butt rocking and knees knocking. So mark your calendars and start your weekend off right to a night of good music, dancing, throwing down a couple of cold ones and scuffing up some hardwood with all your friends!

Kissing November Goodbye!

We ended November 2012 by dancing our butts off all night to the uptempo 4/4 foot stompin' two steppin',house rockin',diesel truckin', beer drinkin' music of the Truck Stop Troubadours.  Brian and the gang were  spot on all night nailing song after song after song. Besides making a point to call out the dances we do to specific songs they worked in some off our favorites like Runaway, Act Naturally and several others and it wasn't lost on us that they added some Travis Tritt into their repertoire. Nice Touch! 

You know you're having a good time when they announce the last song and you look at your watch in disbelief wondering where the time went. Great Music, perfect pitch, not too loud, sincere band interaction with the crowd made for great night for everyone. Great Job! The Troubadours will be back at the AMVETS on December 28th to help us dance off some of the extra good food we ate over the holidays.

For the lessons last Friday we taught the easy line dance Givin' it Up to the Song 15 Minutes by Rodney Atkins which we'll be reviewing this coming Friday December 7th along with teaching a new partner dance. Speaking of next week ...it's the first Friday of the month and that means that Radio Ranch will be back at the AMVETS. Radio Ranch always packs the place with their ability to mix it up with a perfect blend of Swings, Cha-Cha's Two-Steps Waltz's etc, etc, etc that will keep you up on the floor and dancing all night long! . Great Band, Great People, Great Friends. Don't miss them, you'll have a great time! Note the warning from their facebook page below.... 

Reminder - All RED Text are Dance Links all Blue Text are Music / Band / Artist Links

REMINDER! During this holiday season remember our Veterans.  There are currently 300 Veterans (approx. 275 men & 25 women) at the Soldiers Home in Holyoke. We need your help and support to make sure each and every one of them has a Merry Christmas. Bring your gifts (unwrapped) from now until December 14, 2012 and join us and the AMVETS in bringing smiles to OUR Veterans. They will know we haven't forgotten them and them and what they have done for all of us. 

CLICH HERE FOR SOLDIER'S HOME WISH LIST

Black Friday Mixer

Last Friday was Randy & Dor's first Friday back after their Long Weekend Excursion to Newport. Many Many Thanks to Jenn for filling in! We started off the lessons by doing a quick review of Shotgun Jenny, (man that song and beat is additive) we then taught the Western Barn Dance Mixer, which was lots of fun. Love that Song too.

The band that was scheduled to play the day after Thanksgiving cancelled so Stratos filled in for them. It gave us the opportunity to get to know Carol better (Female Lead singer with the band Stratos). We showed her a couple of our line dances (She picks up quick) and found out what a phenomenal voice she has. Once the band turned the music down and placed a monitor in front of her the vocals were  absolutely SPOT ON all night. Great rendition of some country classics. Really Nice girl, great talent!

Next week,  the Truck Stop Troubadours will be back on stage playing the Classic outlaw country sound mixed with hints of Rockabilly and Americana that you love. So come out and join us for a night of 4/4 foot stompin' two steppin',house rockin',diesel truckin', beer drinkin' music with a definite uptempo beat.... Lessons Start at 6:30 and the Band at 8PM.  facebook event  See ya there!

Reminder - All RED Text are Dance Links all Blue Text are Band / Artist Links

Friday November 9th - Birds of a Feather!

What a Great night at the Chicopee AMVETS! We followed up a record breaking attendance on the 2nd with another record breaking attendance on the 9th! That record didn't last long! The floor was packed to the rug on all sides and it was GREAT to see that it was a good mix of brand new faces, Friday Night Regulars and old friends we haven't seen in a while!

We started off the night with a teach of a new beginners dance Shotgun Jenny which received rave reviews. A big shout out to our friend  Ernie Bastarache  for turning us on to that one. 

This weeks review was the Partner dance Long Long Way and we even got to do a quick Re-Teach of Huli Huli Chicken in honor of last nights band, Chickenwire . Speaking of Chickenwire, what an outstanding performance they gave.   Definitely a 3 Bandanna Night!   Great Musicians and all around great down to earth people. If you ever get a chance to see them, DON'T pass it up! Excellent addition to the band rotation for the Chicopee AMVETS.

Next Friday, November 16th will be an all request practice session from 6:30 till 7:45 to give everyone a chance to practice the dances we've taught in the last month of so. Just N Kase will be back on stage with a playlist of good Heel Slapping, Boots Tapping gotta get up and dance tunes that will keep you on the floor all night!

Reminder - All RED Text are Dance Links all Blue Text are Band / Artist Links

Friday November 2nd – Packin’ Em In!!

Wow! ... Wow!  For those that missed it, last Friday broke 7 years of attendance records with 55 Dancers on the Floor for the lessons. Great to see everyone coming out for the lessons and getting a chance to make a bunch of new friends.

This week we started off by reviewing the intermediate Line Dance Summer Sun to the song by the same name by Clayton Anderson. Great dance, well received, check it out. For our new partner dance we taught Long, Long Way to the song by the same name by Alan Jackson. Another cool partner dance, received lots of compliments on this one.

Besides the regular cast and crew, we had Kenn from Germany join us for a second week. For those of you who don’t know Kenn, he’s from here originally and joins us every year when he comes back to visit. Real Nice Guy. When he gets back to Europe, he’s gonna be sending us some of the dances that they’re doing in Germany to check out.

Also got to do a little more chatting with Pam & Jim and Mike & Cheryl who took our lessons at the Castle last week. Nice to see them again. Stop by next week and introduce yourselves and make them feel welcome. It was also really great to see John & Kathy Hunter out again on a Friday. Good Friends, Great Dancers/Instructors.

As promised, Radio Ranch came back from their performance at the Castle and really ROCKED THE HOUSE! Can’t say enough about these guys as musicians and friends. They hit all the Line Dance songs they know we love and kept people on the floor all night long. Great job mixing it  up with 2 Step, Cha, Cha, Swing, Rumba, Polkas etc etc etc. This band really knows how to work the crowd. Gotta Love Justin's solo cover of "Private Malone". Many thanks for Learning “The Wind” and their rendition of 1452 Beers Ago was Spot On! Great Job.  Much appreciated! BTW Thanks for the beer guys. ;-)

Next Friday Stratos will be back for their 3^rd performance at the AMVETS check out their web page HERE! For the lessons next week we’ll be reviewing Long, Long Way and will be teaching a nice easy beginners Line dance to a wicked catchy song and…..... You’re Gonna Like It! It’s one of those easy dances that you get just into so quickly and is pure fun to dance to! See ya there!

Friday - October 19th!

What a Great Night! Another 40+ dancers on the floor when we began our all request dance session at 6:30 with more and more dancers arriving as the night progressed. If this keeps up we're gonna need a bigger floor!

After Friday night I can say with conviction that a local band with one of the coolest logo's around is also one of the coolest bands! Yes, Chickenwire a local band out of the Greenfield, Massachusetts area made their debut performance at the Chicopee AMVETS and really Rocked the House last Friday. Playing mainly upbeat rhythms, they entertained the crowd with a mix of Country, Rock n Roll, Southern Rock etc that kept people up on the floor and dancing all night. They worked well with the Line dancers playing songs they knew dances to and they also threw in a few Buckle Polishers and Hopping Swing Tunes for the Freestylers and Swing Dancers. Nice Guys, Good Musicians, Great debut performance, Give em a "Like" on Facebook  HERE!

Getting good feedback on our new Partner dance HeartStrings from not only our couples but from instructors as far away as the Canada and the UK  taking the time to write us mentioning they like the dance and are going to teach it. Cool...

It's almost time for Western Night at the Castle! Next Saturday Chicopee will be putting on their boots and heading out to the KOC to Kick up their Heels Western Style! The fun starts at 6PM when the bar opens for Cocktails and snacks  and then about  7:00 PM they'll have a beginners dance lesson. At 7:30pm the Western Style Buffet begins with a menu of of Fried Chicken, Chili, Baked Beans, Mexican Style Corn, Salad, Corn Muffins, and Southern Style biscuits. After Dinner you'll be Dancing all night to the down home country sounds of one of the finest country bands in New England, Radio Ranch!  Don't Miss It!

This coming Friday JUST-N-KASE is back at the AMVETS and we have a cool new line dance all picked out that we're really looking forward to teaching! So mark your calendars and start your weekend off right to a night of dancing, throwing down a couple of cold ones and scuffing up some hardwood with all your friends!

2012 Fall Ketchup

Playing Sunday Ketchup on the OEP Blog and we got a lot to catch you up on.

Well Summers Over and it's getting colder and what a summer it was. As a club we had more events this summer then in any other summer in our history and we had a blast! The fall line up is out & looking good and I've attached it to the bottom of this update. 

OEP Shirts- OK, Well we've filled almost all of the One Eyed Parrot shirt orders so if you need any more, let us know and we'll add it to the next batch. 

4 Weeks Ago - We had Stratos coming back for their second performance at the AMVETS. We were looking forward to it because we had such a great time at their 1st performance.(Their 1st was  in 2011, and this was what we said about it then) . So we were surprised that we didn't dance as much as last time. After talking to Jason/Stratos I found out why. Their directory with their music crapped out on them & couldn't be accessed. (They also use the PC for background tracks as well) It's fixed and will definitely not be a problem going forward. Cool! For the lessons we taught Ghostriders and reviewed Dan Albro's new couples dance  Seven Nights. Who choreographs better than Dan?

3 Weeks Ago the Truck Stop Troubadours were back and rocked the house with the classic Outlaw Rockabilly style they're known for. For the lessons we reviewed Ghost Riders and taught our new Partner dance HeartStrings. 

2 Weeks Ago - Radio Ranch packed the place for a Hot Country Dance Party and as always ROCKED the HOUSE!  What a Party Crowd! Go Go Glo-Ho! They will be Back the 1st Friday in November. For the lessons we taught the Line Dance Good Riddance and reviewed our new Partner dance HeartStrings. 

Last Friday the Hurricanes blew into town playing country and a little Rock & Roll. 1st time I had a chance to meet them, very nice considerate folks. We did a video of our dance HeartStrings which is now up on YouTube and Copperknob. For the lessons we retaught Six Pack Summer by request and Reviewed the Line Dance Good Riddance.

Had a few people ask about Mishnock (Gee I'm Surprised)  ;-) We'll be planning our next trip in the Spring of 2013.

TRUE WEST - On the bad news front one of our favorite bands True West has disbanded... pun intended. The Good news is that John Kelly is working on reconstituting the band under a different name so, I'm sure we'll get to see some of their smiling faces again.

This coming Friday we have a new band playing the AMVETS,  Chickenwire.  As mentioned last week there will be no lessons on the 21st just an all request dance party to get a chance to practice all the dances we've learned. 75 Non-Stop minutes of line & Partner dancing starting at 6:30! Followed up with live country music.

Guess Who?
Last Western Night
at the Castle

Also Don't forget Western Knight at the Castle Oct 27th is fast approaching , get your tickets from Dave this Friday before they'll all gone!!

We'll be teaching a couple of BEGINNERS LINE DANCES so bring your friends!

See ya Friday!


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2012 FALL Schedule

Friday, October 19 Chicken Wire
Friday, October 26 Just-N-Kase
Saturday, October 27 Country Knight @ the Castle w/Radio Ranch!
Friday, November 2  Radio Ranch
Friday, November 9 Stratos
Friday, November 16 Just-N-Kase
Friday, November 23 The Company
Friday, November 30 Truck Stop Troubadours
Friday, December 7 Radio Ranch
Friday, December 14 Just-N-Kase
Friday, December 21 End of the World Dance Party with Stratos
Friday, December 28 Truck Stop Troubadours